Current Events that Relate to History
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AntecedentBefore Mahmoud Khalil, There Was Harry Bridges
The U.S. government repeatedly tried to deport the midcentury labor leader over his alleged ties to the Communist Party.The Bulwark -
ArgumentJames Madison and the Crisis of the New Order
The effort to return American government to republican principles is daunting—but the Founders’ wisdom can serve as a guide.Law & Liberty -
DebunkDid Patrick Henry Really Say ‘Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death’?
The Virginia delegate may have spoken those words on March 23, 1775, but some historians doubt it.Retropolis -
EtymologyThe Left-Wing Origins of ‘Deep State’ Theory
Those who wish to restore democratic rule, regardless of political orientation, must take it seriously.Compact -
Book ReviewThe Making of a Cold War Spy
The life and work of Frank Wisner, one of the CIA’s founding officers, offers us a portrait of American intelligence’s excesses.The Nation -
VignetteWhen the KKK Came to D.C.
Revisiting a 1925 march through the eyes of Black newspapers.The Atlantic -
exhibitSocial Safety Net
How Americans through the years have approached the thorny questions of identifying who the government is obliged to help and how such assistance should be funded and distributed.
From the HNN Archive
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What Is the Role of the Historian?
Rethinking the job of history — and the American Historical Association — after the veto of the Gaza “scholasticide” resolution. -
“A Party for the White Man”
The scene at the 1964 Republican National Convention, when Barry Goldwater was nominated and black Republicans’ worst fears about their party were confirmed. -
Indifferent to the Fate of Freedom Elsewhere
Jimmy Carter is known for his defense of human rights worldwide. But in 1979, he threatened to deport thousands of Iranian student protesters. -
Ohio’s Little-Known Fascist Member of Congress
How a local prosecutor protected white supremacists and went on to a career in Washington, DC. -
When Good Housekeeping Meant Getting Vaccinated Against Polio
The pages of 1950s lifestyle magazines offer a glimpse of a time when childhood vaccines were anything but controversial. -
The Forebears of JD Vance and the New Right
Revisiting the Agrarian-Distributists and their fabrication of an American past. -
The Burned-Over District
The Northeast caught fire this fall, in a way that recalls its past. History has some lessons about how to manage the region’s fire seasons to come. -
Who Built the Panama Canal?
Finding testimony from the Afro-Caribbean workers who changed the Americas forever.